Monday, September 02, 2013

Covenant Praying as Everlasting Super-gluedness to God (PrayerLife)

Trinitarian sculpture, in a shop in Columbus


To make a "covenant" with someone is to vow allegiance to that person, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, 'til death do us part. Real prayer is a covenant-making activity with God, 'til death do I live forever. The act of praying is the expression of everlasting super-gluedness to God.

Ps. 57:7 expresses the confession of a covenant heart:

My heart, O God, is steadfast,
    my heart is steadfast;
    I will sing and make music.


And from The Message:

I’m ready, God, so ready,
    ready from head to toe,
Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune!


This is commitment-language. Commitment Prayer takes us to the heights of life where we gain, among other things, a God-perspective that allows us to see sub specie aeternitis, or "from the view of God."

I like how Richard Foster expresses the nature of Covenant Prayer:

"Covenant Prayer is a profound interior heart call to a God-intoxicated life. It leads us to the crossroad of personal decision. It guides us through the valley of sacred commitment. It beckons us up the alpine pathway of holy obedience." (Foster, Prayer - 10th Anniversary Edition: Finding the Heart's True Home, p. 67)